radiation pressure (redirected from corpuscular-radiation pressure)

radiation pressure

Pressure on a surface resulting from electromagnetic radiation that impinges on it. The pressure is a result of the momentum carried by the radiation. When radiation is reflected rather than absorbed, the radiation pressure is doubled. Radiation pressure can sometimes be great enough to produce a force that is useful.

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radiation pressure [‚rād·ē′ā·shən ‚presh·ər]

(acoustics)

The average pressure exerted on a surface or interface between two media by a sound wave.

(electromagnetism)

The pressure exerted by electromagnetic radiation on objects on which it impinges.

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Radiation pressure

Pressure exerted by electromagnetic radiation on objects on which it impinges. This pressure is caused by the fact that electromagnetic radiation transmits energy and possesses momentum. These pressures are very small. The effect is conspicuous in the case of a comet near the Sun, where the radiation pressure from the Sun forces the lighter cometary constituents away from the Sun. See Electromagnetic radiation